3 Ways to Create a Modern Rustic Timber Home

A rustic look on a timber home isn't always easy, but these three tips should help when planning your modern rustic timber home.

Photography by Tony Giammarino
3 Ways to Create a Modern Rustic Timber Home


1. Think Long and Lean.

Ranch-style homes are back in a big way, but these aren’t the flat, boring designs of the 1950s & ’60s. Live in single-level style by incorporating angles into the design. Be adventurous and wrap the house around a central courtyard. Just make sure to separate public and sleeping spaces for privacy.

2. Go Old School.

Schools of design, like Craftsman, Adirondack and vintage farmhouse are timeless and easy to achieve. The defining characteristics they share include large welcoming front porches, gabled roofs, native materials (especially weathered wood and natural stone accents), exposed wood trim and heavy timber trusses.

3. Add On (or Make it Look Like You Did).

Back in the day (as they say), adding on to a home often meant the new structure didn’t necessarily match the existing one. This was typically done out of necessity, but now it’s become a charming design technique. Mixing a log-cabin style addition to your timber home is a quintessential option, but it’s not the only one. You can create that homestead look with breezeways connecting detached garages or outbuildings, varying rooflines or switching up exterior cladding, like placing stone next to board-and-batten.